A student run coffee cart is a wonderful enterprise activity, vocational training job task, and overall fun work to incorporate into your classroom. I have always used a student run coffee cart in an Autism Unit, self contained classroom or job training class, but over the years I have supported other teachers as they’ve started ones in resource level occupational training classes, rooms for the profoundly disabled, and in transition programs.
What is true over and over when operating a student-run coffee card is that the benefits are immense and the student success stories are intense.
Benefits of a Student Run Coffee Cart
I’ve seen students flourish and become a more purposeful in their transition and vocational training as well as social skills through a student-run coffee cart. Here are a few of the benefits I’ve witnessed.
1. Builds a Team.
When a student-run coffee cart is operating well, all students involved have to work collaboratively and cooperatively to be successful. When students use job assignments to develop personal work skills, work in small groups to get a job done, or feel rooted in the entire team, great things happen. I’ve seen self-esteem shoot through the roof. I’ve seen students who could not get along find common ground. And I’ve seen teachers who were struggling find something they could be proud of.
How often does a single classroom activity to build camaraderie in so many ways? For that reason alone a student-run coffee cart is priceless!
2. Provides Social Interactions.
Let’s face it, students in self-contained classrooms often develop a great ability to talk to peers they’ve been with for decades or teachers and adults they see every day. Problem is when you try to generalize those social skills to the outside world, students struggle. A lot of that has to do with exposure. But operating a student run a coffee cart, students are able to interact with adults outside of their programming as well as do more peer-to-peer communication within the team. These opportunities for social interactions build skills that are difficult to teach by manufacturing a setting.
3. Builds Vocational Skills.
I love task boxes in vocational training classes. They truly are a lifesaver! But if you start to see that your students are only working on vocational skills in that way, you may be desperate for a student-run coffee card and not even know it. There are so many skills that come with building vocational aptitude and really preparing a student for a successful transition, but those cannot be developed effectively by only using one Training method. across from Enterprise activity offers students an opportunity to develop skills that are more realistic and better mimic what will happen when they are truly employed.
4. Connects the Program with the School Community.
Sometimes self-contained students end up in their own bubble, cut off from the rest of the school campus. Granted, opportunities to commingle do come up, but they are the anomaly and not the norm. Being out in the school community, interacting with peers and adults, and even being seen can all provide meaningful connections to the surrounding community. This also helps non-disabled peers and unfamiliar staff develop a relationship that can translate beyond school walls.
5. Highly Engaging.
If you have fallen victim the classroom boredom and students doing a series of repetitive tasks (like filling out paper job applications, oi) then you are probably in desperate need above vocational task like this one students are highly engaged in the process, enjoy having the opportunity to change roles within the team, and interacting with peers and adults outside of their program. It also helps that a student-run coffee cart generates program income and students can help decide how that is spent.
6. Provides Program Income.
No lie, a student-run coffee cart can generate mega bucks. Once you’ve established how program income will be used, tracked, and managed, you will probably have plenty of wiggle room to allow students at some small celebrations. Twice a year my students opted for a big pizza party with everything paid for from our program income. We also use some of the money to take an all-expense paid field trip into the greater community twice a year. What a great way to show how hard work pays off!
Student Success with a Student Run Coffee Cart
Clearly when you’re able to bring these benefits to the students in your classroom with significant disabilities or Autism, the success stories can be profound! I have worked with students who have made such a turnaround working on coffee cart that it literally blew my mind. Communication increased, socially appropriate nonverbal communication improved, money skills and job skills all got better. Students really took ownership of the cart and were invested and making sure it ran well. They developed a better sense of independence, held themselves to a higher level of accountability, and were able to work on soft skills that are the most challenging to teach in a classroom environment.
What success stories have you seen operating a student-run coffee card?
If you are convinced that a student-run coffee cart would be perfect in your classroom, I suggest you check out this post on how to start a classroom coffee cart as well as this post on materials you’ll need to start your cart. Once you’ve gotten everything going, come back and comment below on what worked and what successes you’ve seen!
If you are interested in starting a coffee cart and want a fantastic printable to help you get started complete with student roles, a proposal letter to the principal, labels, visuals, and signage… plus more, then check out this post here or purchase it in the store.